July News and Updates

We had a visit from Donore Credit Union to our ABC Nursery on Saturday last. The kids were delighted with their packs on the last day before the summer break. Our Under 7s recently graduated and have moved onto the grass area. There’s some top talent coming through with lots of boys and girls with older siblings to practice with over the summer.  We also have our Summer Camp starting on Monday in Loreto College on the Crumlin Road where we will be welcoming close to 200 children.

Our Under 8 – 11 hurling sides are going well, holding their own against top Dublin clubs and more importantly are improving each week. They played their last games before the Summer Break on Saturday 24th June and plan to continue their sessions over the Summer on Mondays, Wednesday and Saturdays for anyone who is not heading away on holidays. Teams will be combined and some guest appearances have been arranged from various outside coaches, and inter-county stars. First up will be Naoise Waldron on Monday 17th July. Naoise is a GPO with Dublin GAA currently based in Fingallians. Naoise played underage with Kilkenny and also recently appeared on The Underdogs series. When he is not coaching he is busy updating his social media with witty coaching material.

Our Under 12 boys are also going well in Division 6 and are currently sitting in 2nd place. Games resume in September and some blitzes are being organised for the summer break. Our Under 12 girls are also performing very well in the Go Games 2 Team Group. Their games finished up in June with a fixture against Round Towers. The girls were delighted to be invited into the Faughs Under 12 End of Season Blitz. While we don’t have a regular team competing at Under 11 level our younger Under 12s combined with our Under 10s to enter into the St Sylvesters Camogie Blitz in early June, reaching the Shield final. Our Under 10 “ninjas” are going strong. A number of the girls tog out with the boys and are making significant contributions during hurling Go Games fixtures and they have their own team as well. So why are they called the ninjas? A trip to an opposition club resulted in a post match phone call … “Where did you get them girls from?” asked the opposition coach. “They were like camogie ninjas…We could hardly get the ball past midfield and when we did out popped another Kevins girl to whip the ball from us”. Word spread and the name stuck, but their numbers have grown. Of course, more girls are welcome!

Our primary schools were also busy in June. Our club GPO Paul McManus and coach Jenny Kearns ran a number of schools blitzes over the month of June in Dolphin Park with a few hundred boys and girls attending. St Clare’s narrowly missed out on a Croke Park final as they were beaten in their semi-final, ach comhghairdeas captaen Meadhbh Finnegan Ramos agus an fhoireann Scoil Mologa! Tàimid an-bhróidúil asat Meadhbh! This girl is multi talented and has racked up titles in camogie, football, rounders and also appeared in a few successful hurling blitzes with the club! 

Our Under 13 Division 2 and Division 9 teams have had a reversal of fortunes since the league gradings were set. Having come runners up in Division 3 last year and doing well in the grading the boys are now competing in Division 2 and have had the misfortunate of coming up against the 3 unbeaten sides in their 1st 3 games. Our Division 9 side have won 2 from 3 in their league, the latest being a home game against Ballyboden Wanderers.

Our Under 13 girls are progressing well in Division 4. They had two good wins over Bean Eadair and Commercials in June and are currently sitting in second place, having won all games except for one draw. However, they do have a game in hand over Thomas Davis and a win will see them take top spot.

Our Under 14 hurlers have progressed to Phase 2 of the grading leagues and are now competing in E Group 2. They had mixed fortunes in June when beating St Vincents and loosing to Faughs. Their next game is not until September. However, some of these boys will be kept occupied, as they play with the Under 15s. Our Under 15 hurlers have recovered well from the Feile final defeat, drawing their first game in the League Division 5. Their next game is on Tuesday night at home against Ballyboden Saint Endas.

Our Under 14 camogs are playing in Division 2 this year and have performed very well after coming up from Division 3 last year. They are still wining games, but not in the same manner as last season. Their last game against Ballinteer Saint Johns was essentially a league final. Unfortunately it ended in a loss and Lucan Sarsfields who we beat leapt frogged us by winning their last game. This squad has shown some brilliant potential over the past few years and no doubt the season in Division 2 has helped them develop further. With 4 girls on the Dublin development squads they are one to watch! Our Under 15 girls season ended with the Feile Division 2 final. It was a massive achievement to reach the final of Division 2 considering that most clubs entering Feile with no league team are placed down in lower divisions. While there are no more Under 15 games, Chloe Kearns continues to represent the club on the Dublin development squad.

Our Under 16 camogie side in Division 3 they are also going strong beating St Finians in their last game. Next up are Erins Isle on the 11th July. The Finglas girls are on the same points, but behind on score difference having lost only one game … to Kevins. This will be hotly contested game as a win for either team will see them top the table! Our Under 16 hurlers are also competing in Division 3 and are currently sitting in third spot, having been beaten by the two sides above them. Their next games against O’Tooles on the 15th July who are on the same number of points as Kevins. We have two Minor teams this year competing in Division 2 and Division 6. Our Division 2 side play a combined St Peregrines/Westmanstown Gaels side on the 9th July. Our Division 6 side are going strongly having only lost one game in their campaign and have a number of game lined up for July. You can click on the links for all league tables, recent results and upcoming fixtures. Our Minor camogie squad are in Division 4 and this young squad have had some tough encounters, the most recent being a loss to neighbours Crumlin.

Our adult hurlers have being playing out their final league games and are finishing strongly. Our AHL10s side are in contention for a play-off spot with wins over neighbours Good Counsel/Liffey Gaels and Wanderers.  Our next game is against neighbours Ranelagh Gaels on the 6th July at home. This squad is captained by Conor Bracken the last playing member of the 2002 squad that won the Dublin Intermediate Championship and reached the Leinster Junior Final. A good support is welcome. Our AHL7 side have finished their league mid-table with some good wins and are now preparing for championship. Our AHL4 side finished in 5th place in front of Kilmacud Crokes on head to head. Their last game was against Good Counsel / Liffey Gaels at home which ended in a narrow loss. All 3 team are now preparing for championship with our first games on the 16th and 17th July. Our upcoming championship fixtures are posted here. We encourage all our members to get up and support the lads in their home games.

Our adult camogie squad travelled to Annacurra in Wicklow recently along with some underage teams to honour the memory of a dear friend Sarah Carty.  The girls have been competing at Intermediate 2 Level this year and after winning a Leinster League earlier in the season, ended their league campaign mid table.  We await details of championship fixtures. In other news Meadhbh Hicks has been representing the club at county level playing Intermediate and also appearing on the Senior squad earlier in the year.

We have had some great fun over the past few Fridays with the most recently formed Mothers and Others group who picked up their camans every Friday in Dolphin Park. Some of the mothers joined their Under 10 daughters in an Electric Ireland sponsored initiative called Hurl With Me where the girls played one half of a game and the mothers played the second half. Check out the footage on the Camogie Facebook page here. Electric Ireland have also posted some good photos here. A big thanks to Jemma Kealy for pushing this initiative as it was a massive success. Gemma is actively involved with the nursery and is always interested in hearing from newbies who would like to sign up when the initiative returns in September.

Some fathers have been enquiring about opportunities to take part and we are delighted to advise that we partner with St James Gaels on a Social Hurling project every Tuesday in Bunting Road. Pop along and give it a go! They played St Jude’s last week and rumour has it that there was post match debrief in the clubhouse.

Our Adult Rounders teams are also going strong! Our Intermediate Ladies are guaranteed a semi-final spot in the All-Ireland series on the assumption that they fulfil all their fixtures. In GAA Rounders points are awarded for fulfilling fixtures which basically means you are penalised for giving walkovers. Our Senior Mixed side are also in the running for a semi-final spot, but unlike the Ladies they are not guaranteed a place. Our next game is on 16th July against Adamstown of Wexford. A win will push us in the right direction. This has been a super year for GAA Rounders with over 80 teams competing around the country and Kevins are proud to say we have played our part in the development of the game in general. This year alone we have certainly spiced up the competition by beating The Heath and Cuchulainn who are recent and reigning All-Ireland champions. We also had Under 12 action over the past few weeks with the Under 12 boys competing in the All-Ireland series. This was a new group we pulled together, mainly comprised of Under 10s and 11s.They had three games against Castleknock, Na Fianna and Swords who eventually won out the tournament. The boys had a great experience learning a new sport and we hope it’ll stand to them next year. While championship is over, we are playing socially most Fridays in Loreto College and all are welcome. Many thanks to Emerald Diamond International for supporting our efforts to introduce Rounders to Dublin’s Inner City. We have years of experience in coaching hurling and camogie, but the baseball coaching material and equipment have been very helpful to our GAA Rounders initiative. It’s great to be able to work with other sporting organisations to get our kids out playing sport … we might need to organise a trip to the US in the coming years to take on a Major League Baseball Club! We can bring the hurleys just in case!

The big news of this week is the retirement of Mrs Spring from St Clare’s in Harold’s Cross. We were honoured to join her last Friday the 30th June 2023 to wish her well in her retirement. It’s 30 years since we worked with Mrs Spring and the staff of St Clare’s to introduce Gaelic Games to the school. A hat tip must also go to Tom Ryan of Cumann na mBunscoil who assisted at the time. Without a doubt, this was a key milestone in the clubs history as we expanded in the world of camogie at the same time. While a number of girls and boys have gone on to represent us at county level we have also welcomed some of the most wonderful people into the club during this time. We wish Mrs Spring all the best on a well earned retirement and hope to see her in the future!

Did you know we are playing camogie for 30 years this year! 1993 marked a significant milestone in the clubs history as not only did we start proving sporting opportunities for girls in the area, but we also introduced Gaelic games into schools such as  Loreto College on the Crumlin Road and St Clare’s in Harold’s Cross. Our first official games were on Saturday the 20th November in Pearse Park against Good Counsel. That day we fielded under 11 and 13 and while the results didn’t go our way, it was certainly a game changer for the club and kids in the inner city. Within 2 years we had 5 teams from Under 11 up to 14 and the tradition of girls playing on boys teams was also born. Today we have a nursery catering for girls from 4 years up and have teams catering for all ages including an adult team which includes a young lady who played on that faithful morning in Pearse Park! We are delighted to report that she is improving every week! To celebrate 30 years of camogie we plan to celebrate later in the year.

Tonight’s Lotto draw will be for a jackpot of €2,700. You can play online using the secure Clubforce link by clicking here. Funds raised go towards the running of the various club activities. Many thanks as always for your continued support! All funds raised go towards the great initiatives we run for the benefit of the local children and members.

Liberty Recycling are doing a clothes collection this Thursday in Loreto College. Parents and club members can drop their bags of clothes off when dropping their kids at camp on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday morning. This is a club fundraiser. No pillows or duvets! Clothes, shoes, towels and sheets are accepted!

Our annual golf classic is on 21st July in Grange Castle. We would love to hear from teams and potential sponsors. A team of four is €220. For more information click here.

Are you interested in social games? We are back partnering with St James Gaels on the social hurling for parents interested in learning the skills or retired hurlers looking for a bit of exercise. We meet on Tuesday at 7.30 pm for a puck about. We have social rounders for both men and women and there are also plans to establish social camogie in the coming weeks. We also have Healthy Handball in Charlemont Street in partnership with the Brian Boru club. Contact pro.kevins.dublin@gaa.ie for more information.

Kevin’s are in existence over 120 years now and have a big diaspora. Being an inner city club it is quite common to see our members travelling further afield! One of the great success stories is a young lad from Rialto who has been living in London for the past few years! Congratulations to Alan Nagle who was awarded Rising Star Award at the recent London Fintech Awards! In his spare time Alan keeps himself fit by playing a bit of hurling in London.

Finally if you have club news or would like to have your team photos, match results, or reports etc mentioned please contact pro.kevins.dublin@gaa.ie. If you haven’t already, please ensure your team has a representative in the PR & Comms Group so we have the correct updates for matches, changes to matches and other updates etc. The majority of updates we receive get posted on our social media, but if you don’t send them in they don’t get posted.